Many technical routes have been explored in the prior art to improve the sensorial properties of low fat formulations used for the preparation of ice confections.
Low-temperature extrusion or low-temperature freezing is a technology that has been recently developed and which has been used to confer enhanced organoleptic properties to frozen confectionery products. Examples of such frozen confectioneries include ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet etc.
Such a method is described for instance in a general way in the following published documents: WO 2005/070225, WO 2006/099987, EP 0713650, U.S. Pat. No. 7,261,913 and more recently US 2007-0196553.
The products obtained by low-temperature extrusion have a particular microstructure as extensively described in Ph.D. Dissertation of Wildmoser J. submitted to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Zürich in 2004, “Impact of Low Temperature Extrusion Processing on Disperse Microstructure in Ice Cream Systems”.
Low temperature extrusion is used in the manufacturing of reduced and low fat frozen confectioneries wherein this technology is helping to compensate for the effect of a low fat content on the texture and mouthfeel of the product.
The prior art also discloses ways to improve the texture of low fat ice confection products prepared by conventional freezing through the use of specific emulsifiers. However, these additives are often perceived negatively by the consumer and solutions that get rid of such ingredients are highly sought.
Besides, consumers' demand continuously increases for “better for you” types of products with lower fat contents or even non fat products, while not compromising on taste. There is therefore a need to improve the results obtained here thereto and to improve the sensory profile of existing products.